Serving tool



Dec. 11,1945.

w. E. WHITE SERVING TOOL Filed Ju ly 1, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 11,1945. I w wHlT 2,390,674

SERVING TOOL Filed July 1, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dec. 11, 1945.W.IE.WHITE 2,390,674-

SERVING TOOL Filed July 1 194? high strength grades.

Patented Dec. 11 1 945 SERVING TOOL William E. White, Bethlehem, Pa.,assigno'r to- Bethlehem Steel Company, a corporation of PennsylvaniaApplication new 1, 1942, Serial No. stasis Claims.

cessory clamps and special fittings to meet a wide range of functionalrequirements. 0

When such requirements do not require provision for subsequent takeup orload adjustment it is a common practice to save the cost ofsupplementary fittings by using the technique known as serving thestrand. This practice, generally employed by linemen, consists offorming primary connections by passing the strand or cable through ananchoring device, returning a suitable length against itself loopwiseand securing the loop by taking integral wires of the looped end insequence and winding them tightly around the main strand and theremaining portion of the looped end. Every'wire so wound is givensuihcient turns to develop adequate and permanent hold and when properlycarried out the aggregate restraint of the successive windings issufficient to maintain the loop against a slipping i'orce approximatelyequal to the ulti-- mate strength of the strand itself. In the ordinary1'; inch size, for instance, this would be approximately 3200 pounds forstandard, 5350 pound'sior Siemens-Martin, and 8000 pounds forThetight-winding essential to this result demands drawing of the wires,as they are wound,

to a point of actual set. Heretoiore, pliers have been usedi'or thepurpose, but their use is sub- Ject to several objections. One,,in'particular, is

' the diiiiculty of determining the actual strength of the serve. Thepliers function solely as an intermittent gripping means, the wirerecalling eiliciency, as gauged by resistance to slippage of thecompleted serve, may vary-under this method from almost nothing to amaximum fully up to requirements, yet visual inspection cannot fixfication and in the appended. claims. I shall:

therefore now proceed to describe my invention way of the operation;

the strength potential of a plier served connection within fifty percent of its true value.

A. more serious trouble is that it has been found to be practicallyimpossible to draw zinc coated wire effectively with pliers withoutcritical damage to the zinc protective surface. Pliers will always outand tear the soft zinc coating far beyond any permissible amount. Copperclad strand is much more expensive, but where exacting standards ofcoating preservation prevail, as in fume-laden industrial areas, forinstance, it has been preferred over zinc coated strand because it canbe plier-served without injuring the coating.

Also, when pliers are used for serving, excess wire must be broken offby nicking the wire with the,cutting edge of the pliers and then bendingback and forth. This practice does not always leave the wire endcorrectly turned in plane with the winding, and-with high strength wirethe technique at best is uncertain and tedious.

One object of my invention is therefore a simple and economical servingtool which does not primarily depend on the operator's gripping strengthfor results.

Another object is a tool which readily adapts itself tothe varying sizeand irregular contour of the core around which it rotates and producesconsistently tight wrapping throughout the tapering length of serve.

Another object is a tool which does the work of pliers in tight serving,with no serious efiect' on zinc coating, and with constant instead ofintermittent tension.

A further object is a means of breaking excess wire integral with the'serving'tool which leaves the wire end closely in layand accuratelyturned in towards thecore, thereby giving the serve a finishedappearance and a safe surface condition.

Still other objects, purposes and advantages of my invention will appearhereinafter in the speciand refer to the accompanying foursheets ofdrawings forming a. part or this specification and in which likecharacters of reference indicate like parts of my invention.

serving tool,'the cutter'being retracted out of the Fig. 3 is aperspcotiveview showing the method of nicking the wire with the cutterpreparatoryconstitute a rigid lever handle ,2.

cutter shown Fig. 7 is a front end elevation of the tool with the cutterof Figure removed;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the serving tool with cutter;

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of a modified form of my serving tool whichdispenses with the cutter;

Fig. 10 is a front end elevation of the tool shown in Figure 9; and

Fig. 11' is a Side elevation of the tool shown in Figures 9 and 10.

, In its preferred form, best shown in Figures 5 to 8, inclusive, thetool I consists essentially of a piece of steel rod of adequate length,strength and thickness, bent at the middle in a U-shape to The ends 3and 4 of said U-shape are bent upwardly and rearwardly to form a roundedseat 5 of suitable size to receive therein the twisted strand 5.Upturned end 3 terminates in a forwardly and upwardly extendingflattened integral hook i, and the other. end i is bent transverselyinward toward but not touching end 3 and terminates in upper rearwardlyand upwardly projecting offset integral hook 8. Hooks I and 8 are joinedtogether at their bases by short welded rod insert 9. Pivotally mountedby rivet ID or the like on fiattened hook "I is the cutter l I,comprising a short bent bar forming at one end a handle i2 and at theother or pivoted end providedwith a nicking or cutting edge [3 turnedinwardly toward rod insert 9.

All bearing surfaces in seat 5, hooks l and'd and rod insert 9 whichcome into pressure contact with galvanized wire surfaces while the toolis being operated are rounded and polished. Plating these bearingsurfaces with a suitable hard metal such as chromium,flalthough notessential,

is further helpful toward preserving a smooth finish and lessened wearon the zinc coating.

A slightly modified form of the tool, in which for greater simplicityand lessened cost of manufacture the cutter II has been eliminated, isshown in Figures 9 to 11, inclusive. This tool is identical with theformer construction, with the same U-shaped lever handle 2 of steel rodhaving its ends 3 and '4 bent upwardly to form rounded seat 5 forreceiving the strand and end a terminating in upwardly and rearwardlyprojecting hook 8, except that on end 3 as th cutter H is dispensed witha rounded lower hook Id may take the place of the fo'rmer's flattenedhook I. The function of these lower hooks, I or la, depending on thetype, is in either case the same, simply a winding means to carryforward the stiff wire about the strand, but the hook 8 deflects thewire in a direction opposed to its normal proceeds imposes a constanttension which resists the flow of the 'wire through the lower hooksufficiently to set up a positive drawing and flexing action.

This will be better understood from a description of the operation ofserving a typical inch, seven wire strand as illustrated in Figures '1to 4, inclusive, of the drawings, although the size mentioned is only anexample and-other sizes and varieties of multiwire strand may easily beserved with tools of appropriate dimensions.

The end of the strand iii to beserved is fastening means and lapped backto form a loop. The exact length of the lapped end of course will varywith the number and thickness of the wires and the number of turnsdesired, but for strand of the dimensions given it should not be lessthan 24 inches and may be of greater length if convenient. The lappedend of the strand is then fanned, or separated, about to the point H,and the first wire I8 is brought by hand to point l9, without tool.Rounded seat 5 of the tool is then placed on the strand l5, and thefirst wire I8 is passed upward through hooks i and 8 and woundby toolaround the main strand 6 and the remaining six-wires of the lapped endfor about seven to ten turns, nicked by the cutting edge [3,

snapped by hand and snugly laid by rotating the tool further. The secondwire 20 is then wound around the main strands and the fiv other wires,nicked, cut and laid as before. Third wire 2|, fourth wire 22, fifthwire 23 and sixth wire 25 are similarly treated, and the serve iscompleted by winding the seventh or last wire 25 in similar fashionaround the main strand alone and cutting like the rest. If the cutter llis omitted, a saw or file or wire cutting pliers may be used instead,with, of course, the drawback of requiring the additional cutting tool,but in any case nicking on the outer face of the wire only, as done bythe cutting edge [3, gives considerably more favorable breakage withrespect to end alignment and lay than double-edged tools such aswire-cutting 'pliers, Also, the cutter H is so positioned as to enablethe operator after nicking the wire to lay the end of the wire close tothe strand as he completes the severing of the wire, with resultantadvantages of safety. and

sively about a core of constant eccentricity and diminishing size aswire are successively taken from the lapped end, yet it producesconsistently tight wrapping throughout the tapering length of serve withslight dependence on the skill or gripping strength of the operator.

Although I have shown and described my invention in considerable detail,I do not wish to be limited to the exact and specific details so shownand described, but may use such substitutions, modifications andequivalents thereof as are embraced within the scope of my invention oras are pointed out in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A tool for serving with wire a metallic strand, comprising a leverarm provided at one end with a concave strand receiving seat havingthereabove two fingers, one of which is curved to partially embracetheserving wire, and the second finger spaced above and apart from thefirst finger to deflect the wire from its normal course sufficiently toset up the required tension for tight wrapping.

2. A tool for serving with wire metallic strand or the like, comprisinga rod bent into a U-shape to form an operating lever handle, the ends ofsaid rod being curved upwardly to form a rounded seat portion forreceiving the strand.

above the seat portion-a hook proiecting !or.-

tending r'earwardly and upwardly from-the other end of the rod above theflrsthook for drawing the wire tightly under constant tension throughthe winding means.

3. A tool for serving with wire a metallic strand or the like,comprising a handle portion for rotatin the tool, a concave seat portionat one end or the handle for receiving the strand, and a pair of smoothopposed hooked surfaces above the concave seat portion onset therefromior i'rictionally engaging the wire'while allowing an' even wrappingflow therethrough.

4. A serving tool for helically wrapping wire around strand or'the'like, comprising a handle for rotating the tool, a seat formed at oneend of the handle for supporting the strand during the wrappingoperation, and oi'iset spaced hook-' shaped contact projections adjacentto the seat' and formed integrally therewith for engaging and wrappingthe wire around the strand during the rotation of the tool.

5. A serving tool for helically wrapping wire around strand or the like,comprising a round rod bent centrally adaptedto form a U-shaped handle,a seat formed near 'each end of the rod for supporting the strand duringthe wrapping operation, a flattened hook-shaped contact portion formedat one end of the rod adjacent to its seat portion,- a rounded contacthook portion formed at the opposite end or the rod adjacent to its seatportion and in spaced relation to the flattened contaethook portion forengaging and wrapping the wire around the strand during the rotation ofthe tool, anda cutter pivotally at- ;tached to the flattened hook fornicking or. severing the wirel after the. required wrap in operation v 1L 6. A serving tool for helically wrapping .wire arolmd-strand or thelike, comprising a, continuous length of round metal rod formed into anelongated U-shaped handle, extended portions oi'therod bent andrearwardly to form a large hook opening toward the handle forenmtheltrandandapairotsmallerlateral above the large hook, one of saidsmaller hooks being'in oflset relation to the other smaller hook forwinding and drawing the wire around the strand tightly during therotation of the tool.

7. A serving tool for helically wrapping wire around strand or the like,comprising a U-shaped rod member adapted to be used as a handle andhaving both end portions'bent upward to form a hook adapted forembracing the strand to be wrapped. the end of said end portion nearestthe wound portion of the strand terminating in a forwardly bent lateralhook adapted for winding the wireabout the-strand upon rotation of thetool, and the other end of said end portion being bent transversely andterminating in a rearwardly bent lateral hook adjacently above andoiIset from the forwardly-bent hboir adapted for engaging and tightlydrawing the wire about the strand during said rotation. 2o 8. A servingtool for helically wrapping wire around strand or the like, comprising ahandle, a pair of strand receiving seat portions thereon, a lateralextension member connecting said seat portions, a'wire-engaging hookupon one of said seat portions and a wire-tensioning hook above saidwire-engaging hook. v 9. A serving tool for helically wrapping wirearound strand or the like, comprising a rod bent .centr'ally to form ahandle, each end of said rod ally forward to form awire-engaginghook,-.an d

the other free rod end extending transversely beyond the first rod endand being bent rearward to form a wire-tensioning hook.-

10. A serving tool for helicaliv'wrapping around strand or the like,comprising a rod bent centrally to form a handle,..both ends of said rodbeing bent rearwardly to term a rounded seat for ,wnrsaun-wm'm beingbent rearward upon itself to form a strand receiving seat, one tree rodend being bent laterwire-receiving and wire-tensioning hooks at their

